


Tao Protection Squad to the Rescue

by kaithartic (bluedreaming), nightmenagerie (bluedreaming)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Canon, Gen, Ice Cream, Jongdae is a hacker genius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 11:17:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3445109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedreaming/pseuds/kaithartic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedreaming/pseuds/nightmenagerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite all the online hate Tao undeservedly garners, Exo takes good care of their Panda with extra hugs and lots of ice cream (canon gen fic)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tao Protection Squad to the Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> The second collab by ansa and ren, because Tao deserves all the love.

“Where are you off to?” Joonmyun raises his head from where it’s pillowed on Tao’s tummy when Sehun pushes to his feet with a groan. They’re all a bit sore after practice, the endorphin rush starting to wear off as the sweat cools on their skin. ****

“Ice cream, hyung. Obviously.” Sehun rolls his eyes along with his neck to work out the kinks. “Just to the convenience store on the corner and then I’ll come straight back, I promise.”

“I wonder if the store has rainbow caramel bars today,” Joonmyun says. “Sehunnie, could you check the freezer?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sehunnie gives the leader a wink over his shoulder before stuffing on his cap and pulling the brim low over his eyes.

“Don’t get lost,” Yixing murmurs as he waves Sehun out the door, his fingers curling lazily.

 

  
***

Sehun thinks back to the time he found Tao crying in the practice room after going down the hall for orange juice. The older boy had wiped his eyes and quickly hidden his phone in his pocket but when Sehun had checked Weibo later that night, the comments on Tao's latest post disgusted him. you should just die. you're so ugly. stop clinging to Kris and go away. But he hadn't known what to do.

A few weeks later he caught Jongdae grinning creepily at his laptop — thinking he was watching porn or something Sehun had snuck around to peek at the screen, only to see lines of code instead of skin.

"What you you doing?" he asked, curious.

"Ummmm," Jongdae replied, after his breathing had calmed down again. "I'm just ummm . . ."

"Are you hacking?" Sehun asked, point blank. Jongdae glanced around before leaning over to whisper in his ear.

"Don't tell anyone," he said, and then proceeded to show Sehun how he could break into twitter and weibo and instagram accounts and remove abuseful comments. "It's not cheating," he explained guiltily. "I'm not getting rid of negative things, just stuff like death threats and that kind of thing." Their eyes both happened to glance over at Tao, sitting in the corner on his phone.

That was how it all began.

 

  
***

Sehun jogs down the hall, taking the back staircase to avoid running into any sunbaes or trainees who might blow his cover. He drops to a crouch, sitting on the heels of his converse to catch his breath as he pulls out his phone. They only have a few minutes left of break before Joonmyun will herd them into another studio for vocal practice, and Sehun has several message boards and netcafes on his list to get through. Not to mention he still has to sneak out for the ice cream when he’s done.

He could technically check the sites in the dance studio, but it would defeat the purpose if Tao were to lean over his shoulder for a back hug or a snuggle and discover something toxic on his phone display. And even if he never found out, Sehun doesn’t like opening that kind of hatred-filled nonsense in the studio. He doesn’t want to taint the few private spaces where the members can sprawl across the floor and lick ice cream from their fingers and just be themselves.

Sehun runs down the list with practiced efficiency and sends a quick text to Jongdae noting which boards need some positive attention today, making sure to use their code names in case Tao happens to see. There. Done.

He pockets his phone, trying to shove down the surge of bitter anger at some of the vicious and completely ungrounded comments he saw. Getting upset doesn’t help anything, so he just shakes the feelings loose as he tears down the rest of the stairs and out the back door. Ice cream. Ice cream totally does help though, at least a little.

 

  
***

Sehun had tag trackers now on Weibo and stuff, so he got little alerts for keywords like "die" and triggers like that, but sometimes it was hard to get to things in time. They were in the middle of vocal rehearsal when his phone pinged, and it was all he could do to stop himself from checking out the situation, especially when he saw Tao reach for his phone once or twice during the practice. When Joonmyun announced a break Sehun leapt for Tao without thinking it over and managed to accidentally elbow Yixing as he and Tao stumbled over onto the ground.

"What was that for?" Tao asked grumpily. He hadn't slept well and his panda eyes were more pronounced than ever. _You spend too much time worrying._ Sehun gave him a hug and nestled his face into Tao's collarbones for just a moment.

"I'm tired," he said, pouting, and Tao relaxed into a laugh, arms reaching around to give Sehun a hug as Sehun's eyes searched the room for Jongdae, finally catching him talking to Joonmyun. He tried gesturing but they were too immersed in their discussion to notice, and Sehun only managed to catch Yixing's eye instead, who frowned, confused. He was still rubbing his arm where Sehun had elbowed him.

 _Tell Jongdae to look over here!_ Sehun mouthed, and finally Yixing understood. He went over to tug on Jongdae's arm, the latter looking up in surprise when Yixing whispered in his ear. Sudden understanding dawned over Jongdae's face, along with that special cheshire-like glee that only seemed to happen when hacking or singing or Yixing were involved. He disappeared out into the hallway, leaving Joonmyun puzzled, until Yixing distracted him with funny cat pictures on his phone. Meanwhile, Sehun was too busy trying to distract Tao from his phone by pulling out his camera to take funny selcas.

"Come on!" Tao complained after the thirtieth picture. "It's break time, let me check my phone!" Sehun's eyes darted to the door in alarm, but Jongdae wasn't back yet.

"Umm, umm," he began, searching for another distraction, when all of a sudden Yixing returned, Joonmyun in tow.

"Taotao!" he exclaimed, grinning. "I found a cat gif that looks like Joonmyun-hyung when he's eating!" Sehun slumped in relief as Tao cooed over the tiny kitten and frowning Joonmyun in turn, and almost cheered when Jongdae returned with a thumbs up.

Later, in the dorm, when Yixing and Joonmyun demanded an explanation, Sehun explained everything and thus was born the "Taotao Protection Army", or TPA, because Yixing was on a Harry Potter kick and Jongdae's sole vote of dissent was unanimously ignored.

 

  
***

“Hey.” Sehun pushes through the studio door, a plastic sack from the store swinging on his wrist, to find the members in more or less the same formation that he left them in. Yixing is cuddled up with Joonmyun and Tao by the mirror. Tao’s phone is out and the three of them are pouting and smiling for a series of selcas. Of course. Tao’s favorite pastime also serves as the perfect distraction, and Yixing and the other members know when to take advantage of it. (And besides, who in their right mind would complain about another Weibo update of their handsome faces?)

“Did you find anything at the store?” Joonmyun quirks a brow at Sehun, shifting up against the support of the mirror to straighten his back against the glass.

Sehun glances over to Jongdae, who is still propped in the corner on a pile of yoga mats, his laptop open in his lap. He waits for Jongdae’s subtle wink before shooting Joonmyun a smile of relief. “Sorry, hyung. They had rainbow caramel this morning, apparently, but it all sold out before I got there. All they have now is red bean with vanilla, but I picked some up anyway.”

Tao looks up from his phone to accept the ice cream bars from Sehun, handing them down to Joonmyun and Yixing before tearing into the plastic wrapper of his own. Sehun tosses the last package to Jongdae before nudging Yixing over to make a space for himself next to Tao. The other members will be back soon from their respective lunch breaks and schedules for vocal practice, and he wants a turn with Tao’s legs tangled cozily in his lap before they have to leave.

Tao’s smile as he savors the first bite of vanilla melts the last hints of worry lingering under Sehun’s tongue. He knows his friend can stand up for himself, but he’s glad he gets the chance to spoil Tao along with the rest of the members since his smile brings them all joy.

“Thanks for the treat, Sehunnie,” Joonmyun smiles, and Yixing hums his agreement. “No worries, I like the red bean stuff too.”

"Ge,” Tao questions as he pokes Joonmyun in the arm, the amused confusion in his voice not dampening the happiness of his smile, “but they never have rainbow caramel ice cream at the store. Are you even sure that's a real flavour?"

 


End file.
